Sustainable Choice Sydney Sustainable Procurement Forum Parramatta Town Hall, Parramatta, 9 November 2016

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1 Sustainable Choice Sydney Sustainable Procurement Forum Parramatta Town Hall, Parramatta, 9 November 2016 Evaluation Report Sustainable Choice is a partnership program between Local Government NSW and the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary Purpose of this report Background The Forum Setting Objectives Structure Audience and attendance Presentations Speed date a Sustainable Choice supplier Tradeshow Evaluation Method Results and discussion Conclusions Recommendations Date of report: November 2016 Contact: Program Manager Sustainable Choice t: e: sustainablechoice@lgnsw.org.au w: lgnsw.org.au Acknowledgements The Sustainable Choice program gratefully acknowledges the support and contribution of Tweed Shire Council for hosting the event and to the following presenters for their time and considerable efforts: Mr Greg Dyer, City of Parramatta Council Ms Katherine Lustig, City of Parramatta Council Ms Debbie Firestone, Tweed Shire Council Ms Lyn Blain, Canterbury-Bankstown Council Mr Bruce Rose, LGP Ms Shaila Divakarla, Good Environmental Choice Australia Ms Kim Andrews, Good Environmental Choice Australia Mr Mark Daniels, Social Traders Thanks are also extended to Local Government Procurement (LGP) for promoting the forum and to forum participants for making the event such an engaging and productive experience. Page 2 of 17

3 Executive Summary On 9 November 2016 at the Parramatta Town Hall, the Sustainable Choice program held a forum for councils to present and explore strategies, innovation, resources and case studies to promote sensible, sustainable procurement. Presentations from the Sustainable Choice Program Managers, Local Government Procurement (LGP), City of Parramatta Council, Tweed Shire Council, Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC), Good Environmental Choice Australia and Social Traders were delivered to 32 Local Government participants. A trade show, a meet the suppliers facilitated discussion and networking session further engaged and connected participants. The content, structure, duration, high calibre of presenters and the contribution of participants ensured that the event was a resounding success. This was evident in participant feedback, with an evaluation revealing that, overall 100% of the participants considered it good or excellent. The Sustainable Choice program team will use lessons learned and participant feedback to guide and inform future events. Page 3 of 17

4 1. Purpose of this report This report assesses the outcomes of the forum against the program objectives. It also allows the program team to build on future activities and to provide analysis and feedback to the Sustainable Choice partnership (OEH and LGNSW) and program members and suppliers. 2. Background The Sustainable Choice program is a partnership between Local Government NSW and NSW OEH. It commenced in 2006 with the aim of facilitating NSW councils to increase the proportion of products and services procured that meet defined environmental and ethical criteria. It does so by: a) providing guidance and capacity building activities; b) supporting and assisting councils to implement sustainable procurement practices; c) improving internal procurement processes and systems; and d) providing networking opportunities to share knowledge and information. Since commencement, program membership has grown annually and currently has 56% of NSW local councils as members. The number of suppliers included on the sustainable products and services database has also grown and is currently The Forum 3.1 Setting Date: Wednesday 9 November, 2016 Time: 9.30am 2.30pm Venue: Parramatta Town Hall, 182 Church St, Parramatta 3.2 Objectives a) Provide information, awareness and connectivity between: i) councils; and ii) councils and industry. b) Showcase sustainable products and services, including local/regional options where possible. c) Assist councils and industry to better understand the sustainability drivers and needs, expectations and barriers of each other. d) Promote council case studies to enhance learning by sharing the experiences and insights of practitioners. Page 4 of 17

5 3.3 Structure The forum comprised a half-day event that was centred on: a) Keynote presentations from the program manager, councils and industry representatives. b) A tradeshow showcasing the sustainable products of Sustainable Choice suppliers. c) A facilitated meet the suppliers discussion and networking session where tradeshow representatives presented and discussed their sustainable products with participants. d) A networking lunch for participants, presenters and tradeshow representatives. The forum was conducted in accordance with the LGNSW Principles and Guidelines for Event Sustainability. A copy of the program is annexed and marked A. 3.4 Audience and attendance The forum targeted Local Government staff involved in procurement, engineering, asset management, environmental management and sustainability. Invitations were sent to all NSW councils. The event was promoted in the Sustainable Choice Newsletter, Local Government NSW weekly and the LGP Newsletter. The event was also promoted on the LGNSW website. Fifty one people participated in the event across 30 different organisations, including representatives from nineteen councils and seven Sustainable Choice suppliers (Table 1). There was also one representative from LGP, three from LGNSW (including two from Sustainable Choice), two from Good Environmental Choice Australia and one from Social Traders. Table 1. Forum participants (n=51) categorised by organisation type Councils Industry Other Page 5 of 17

6 3.5 Presentations Presentations were delivered by eleven speakers. Details of presenters and an overview of their presentation are set out in order of appearance below. Copies of relevant PowerPoint slides (in pdf format) are available upon request from Sustainable Choice Presenter: Mr Greg Dyer, Chief Executive Officer, City of Parramatta Council Mr Dyer welcomed participants to the forum and discussed the importance of sustainability and sustainable procurement at City of Parramatta Council. He also delivered an Acknowledgement of Country. Presenter: Katherine Lustig, City of Parramatta Council City of Parramatta Council Sustainable Procurement Journey Katherine Lustig presented on the Sustainable procurement journey at City of Parramatta Council. She talked about the challenge of lengthy policies that don t get read and the difficulties to get staff to see beyond the upfront higher cost associated with sustainable procurement. Training and educating was organised which inspired one staff member in particular who became the champion within the procurement team implementing the policy. Presenter: Debbie Firestone, Tweed Shire Council Sustainable Procurement in Construction Contracts Debbie delivered a presentation on an initiative of Tweed Shire Council, known as Kingscliff North Holiday Park. The initiative involved a complete upgrade of the site to become a four star standard holiday park. This involved complete demolition of the existing structure and careful considerations were made around landscaping, water, waste water, and energy efficiency to make sure sustainability factors were met. Locally supplied materials were also heavily weighted in the contract specification to avoid transportation and to support local industries. Presenter: Tania Lalor, Local Government NSW Sustainable Choice Program Update Tania provided an overview of the Sustainable Choice Program, including services offered and resources available. Tania also provided an overview of the Sustainable Choice Database Enhancement (SCDE) project currently underway and also a brief overview of the upcoming international standard for sustainable procurement, namely ISO Page 6 of 17

7 Presenter: Jody Houston, Local Government NSW ESSTAM Project Update Jody provided an overview and progress update of the Electronic Sustainable Spend Tracking and Measurement (ESSTAM) project currently being undertaken by Sustainable Choice. Her presentation included exploring the need for and benefits of tracking sustainable expenditure by councils. Presenter: Lyn Blain, Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) Case Study Canterbury-Bankstown Council Sustainable Procurement Initiatives Lyn provided a presentation reflecting her work in sustainable procurement at both Marrickville Council and Canterbury-Bankstown Council. Lyn created a new Sustainability Policy and associated procedures and guidelines at Marrickville Council. Once they were approved, they were all published on the intranet to be easily accessible for all staff. The outcome has resulted in a procurement system that embeds sustainability factors into procurement decisions very effectively. Most importantly sustainable procurement has now become part of the organisation s culture. Lyn also explained she is implementing a similar approach at Canterbury-Bankstown Council where she is now working. Due to the learning experience from Marrickville Council, this process has taken considerably less time. Lyn is currently awaiting formal approval in order to be able to fully implement the new system. Presenter: Bruce Rose, Local Government Procurement (LGP) Sustainability in local government What s in it for me? Bruce talked about how and why LGP support sustainable procurement and how LGP aspires to lead by incorporating social, environmental and economic considerations into their operations. Some of their initiatives include looking into tagging sustainable suppliers on LGP contracts and providing free tender training for Indigenous and social enterprises. Presenter: Sara Lindqvist, Local Government NSW Sustainable Choice Database & Meet the Suppliers. Sara provided a detailed overview of the Sustainable Choice Sustainable Products and Services Database, including what it is, its benefits, how to find it and how to use it. Presenters: Shaila Divakarla and Kim Andrews, Good Environmental Choice Australia What makes an Eco-Label good? Kim Andrews from Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) started the presentation by introducing GECA, what they stand for and what they do. She explained they are Australia s only independent, not-for-profit, eco labelling program. Shaila Divakarla then went on and talked about ISO20400 and the importance of this upcoming standard guidance on sustainable procurement. She then moved on to clear up some misconceptions around eco-labelling which the majority of the audience found very informative. Page 7 of 17

8 Presenter: Mark Daniels, Social Traders The Value of Social Enterprise Social Traders is Australia s leading Social Enterprise development organisation. Mark gave a presentation on the value of and importance of Social Enterprise. He gave an example of a large public housing commission in Melbourne where he worked a number of years ago and how creating jobs for some of those who lived there dramatically improved their lives and the living conditions of all residents who lived in the complex. Mark also advised that Social Traders have a database called Connect where buyers can get in touch with approved Social Enterprises. There is a shift towards using more Social Enterprises and Social Trader s currently have a number of large private organisations as members 3.6 Speed date a Sustainable Choice supplier To promote networking and information exchange, a fun and engaging facilitated discussion and networking session was held between participants and tradeshow representatives. Participants were divided into eight groups that rotated around each of the trade stalls in turn. Representatives provided participants with details of their products, including sustainability measures, their application and how they can be utilised by councils. Participants then had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss their individual council s needs. 3.7 Tradeshow The forum included provision for six Sustainable Choice supplier stalls. Invitations to participate were extended to all Sustainable Choice suppliers via . Stalls were allocated on a first-in, first-served basis. The following organisations participated: a) Moodie Outdoor Products b) Cardia Bioplastics c) Wise Employment d) Fulton Hogan e) Enretech f) Rapid Clean g) Solgen 4. Evaluation A pre and post forum evaluation was conducted to assess performance against the event objectives and to gain insights and develop opportunities for enhancing future events. Page 8 of 17

9 4.1 Method The evaluation comprised a self-administered paper based questionnaire provided to all participants from councils. Respondents completed the pre forum evaluation at the commencement of the event and the post forum evaluation on its conclusion. Data was entered into MS Excel 2010 software which performed all calculations and produced relevant plots. 4.2 Results and discussion a) Response rate The response rate was good. Close to 63% (20 of the 32 Local Government respondents) completed the pre and post forum questionnaires. Page 9 of 17

10 Respondents (%) b) Pre-forum evaluation Level of understanding of sustainable procurement Question 1 surveyed the respondents level of understanding of sustainable procurement. Out of all respondents, 55% considered they had a good or very good knowledge, while the remainder considered they knew only a little (Fig. 1). The forum therefore attracted a good blend of participants in need of capacity in sustainable procurement and those who could share the benefit of their knowledge and experience Know nothing Know a little Know a fair bit Know a lot Fig. 1. Per cent response of respondents (n = 20) to the question: How would you describe your present level of understanding of sustainable procurement. 10 Personal impact on council s sustainable procurement processes Question 2 delved into how much respondents thought their role contributed to their council s sustainable procurement processes. Out of the respondents, 45% said their role has a fair bit or a lot of impact whilst 45% responded a little bit (Fig. 2). One respondent (5%) answered they did not know and one (5%) that their role had no impact at all. Page 10 of 17

11 Respondents (%) Respondents (%) Fig. 2. Percent response of respondents (n = 20) to the question: At the moment, how much does your job impact on council s sustainable procurement processes?. Sustainable procurement over the next five years Figure 3 shows the views of respondents to question 3 inquiring about their views on how sustainable procurement will develop in the workplace. The majority of respondents believed that it would be either more important (75%) or a crucial part (20%), demonstrating the importance of programs such as Sustainable Choice. Only 1 respondent (5%) believed it would remain the same. 45 No idea Not at all A little A fair bit A lot Fig. 3. Percent response of respondents (n = 20) to the question: When thinking about sustainable procurement and council, do you feel that over the next five years sustainable procurement in your work will become.... Advice on sustainable procurement Less important About the same More important A crucial part Respondents were asked how they would secure sustainable procurement advice. The following responses were received: Page 11 of 17

12 Sustainable Choice, Council s procurement coordinator, subject experts, existing e examples. Me or my colleagues or the internet. GECA, Sustainable Choice and Choice. Colleagues and the Internet. Procurement team, subject matter experts and the Environmental Office. NSW LG. Council s sustainability team, Sustainable Choice and LGP. Sustainable Choice and other Councils. Internal procurement staff. LGP and management. Sustainable Choice, GECA and other Councils. Sustainable Choice and other canals. Sustainability team and Sustainable Choice. Choice Magazine, Sustainable Choice and LGNSW. SSROC, networks, Sustainability team, own research and other Councils. GECA and Australian packaging covenant. a) Post-forum evaluation The first section of the evaluation asked respondents to separately rate five elements of the forum namely its information/content, session structure, quality of group interaction, venue/catering and facilitation/presenters. Nearly all (95%) respondents gave ratings of good or excellent, in fact, only one respondent rated Group Interaction fair, the rest rated all elements either good or excellent (Fig. 4). Facilitation/presenters rated most highly, with 50% of respondents considering it excellent. This was followed by Structure and Venue/Catering with 45% of respondents considering them equally excellent. Page 12 of 17

13 Respondents (%) Qualitative elements of the forum Poor Fair Good Excellent Content Structure Group interaction Venue/catering Facilitation/presenters % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Fig % stacked column chart of responses (n = 20) addressing quality of elements of the forum. Figure 5 summates results across the 5 questions above and reveals that overall 95% rated the forum good or excellent Poor Fair Good Excellent Fig. 5. Per cent of responses (n = 20) summated across all qualitative elements of the forum. Page 13 of 17

14 Most enjoyed / useful elements of the forum An open question asked respondents to list those aspects of the forum they most like and/or found useful. Results are detailed in Table 2 below: Table 2. Respondent comments on forum elements they most liked and/or found useful and why. All were good Element All sessions were useful Jody Houston Eco labels Scope of presentations Speed dating Social Enterprise LG+ESSTAM+LGP Eco labels Suppliers Speed dating Social procurement All presenters spoke clearly and were knowledgeable Speed dating Social Procurement Speed dating Eco label Speed dating Case studies Social Procurement Eco-certification Meet the suppliers Social Traders Social procurement Suppliers speed dating GECA, Sustainable Choice, ESSTAM, ISO20400 All good Why it was liked / useful Because I didn t know about it and we need her work. Good tips on how to evaluate eco labels. Application of themes/feed info to each other. Brilliant way to get up. How this can be part of procurement at forefront rather than just an initiative. Knowing organisations/companies involved in procurement. Cleared up some misconceptions. Meet new suppliers Group asked questions Examples/case studies Opportunity to interact with suppliers and to find out more. Great to hear more about this area. Questions asked were useful. Worked through jargon. Interaction with suppliers and networking. Insight into how it works elsewhere. Applicability, ideas Applicability, I can take this and have something to share with my colleagues. Can share information with appropriate officers. Excellent presentation, totally new for LG. I didn t know too much and now I think we should consider this into all standards. Was great as suppliers showcased their products and buyers got to know more about them. Learnt what/where these are up to excited about all these developments. Page 14 of 17

15 Social Traders QBL and presentations Woke me up to the wider aspect of sustainability and not just environmental. Comments generally Respondents were invited to comment or make suggestions generally in relation to the forum and these are listed below: Good mix of presentations. Great day, engaged! Please make presentations/speaker notes available! There was some repeat from other forums. Marrickville/Canterbury case study? Some suppliers I have met before at these forums (Fulton Hogan?). Would be good to minimise duplication at future events. Is there a way to easily access what the symbols mean in the SC database? When you do a search the descriptions disappear. Really enjoyed it and great to know Local Government consider sustainability so much. More than State or Federal, very encouraging. Easy access to venue. All good. The forum evaluation provided an opportunity for participants to provide feedback on the success of the forum. Results revealed an overwhelmingly positive response to the forum and this will assist Sustainable Choice to enhance and further tailor future events to the needs of members. Forum objectives were achieved (Table 3). Results also support the importance and value of holding forums in instilling sustainability objectives into the procurement practices of councils and industry. Table 3. Assessment of achievement of Forum objectives. Objective Achieved 1 Provide information, awareness and connectivity between: i) councils; and ii) councils and industry. 2 Showcase sustainable products and services, including local/regional options where possible. 3 Assist councils and industry to better understand the sustainability drivers and needs, expectations and barriers of each other. 4 Promote council case studies to enhance learning by sharing the experiences and insights of practitioners Page 15 of 17

16 5. Conclusions The Sydney Sustainable Procurement Forum conducted at Parramatta Town Hall on 9 November 2016 attracted 51 participants representing 30 different organisations. Participants possessed a range of understanding of sustainable procurement from a little to a fair bit. One hundred per cent said they were able to influence their council s procurement practices, which is important because all participants considered that sustainable procurement will become more significant over the next five years. The forum s content, structure, facilitation and presenters rated very favourably in the forum evaluation. Presentations were delivered by nine speakers addressing a range of technical and practical elements of sustainable and social procurement. All respondents considered the presenters and facilitation good or excellent. Seven trade stalls demonstrating Sustainable Choice approved products and services enabled councils to view, touch and hear about sustainable products from the suppliers perspectives. Networking and engagement was further facilitated via a meet the suppliers speed dating session and networking lunch. Group interaction was viewed as good or excellent by nearly all of the respondents (95%). The structure, content and delivery of the forum were designed to meet the forum objectives in relation to sustainable procurement including increasing information, awareness and connectivity, showcasing products and services, and understanding the needs, drivers and barriers of others. The evaluation results confirm that the forum objectives were achieved. The forum also strengthened the opportunities for collaborations between councils and between councils and suppliers in furtherance of sustainability objectives. 6. Recommendations The following recommendations are made for future events: 1. Maintain and expand on the diversity of presentations and mix of local government and industry presenters. Reach out to local government in order to find a variety of case studies to be shared at upcoming forums. 2. Include an element on Social procurement/social Enterprise in upcoming forums. 3. Potentially invite more suppliers to expand the variety of products showcased. Page 16 of 17

17 ANNEXURE A FORUM PROGRAM Page 17 of 17